The Secret Life of the Backyard Kids
by Rose64bud
Summary: The Backyard Kids are in middle school, Jorge has magic powers and panther-like abilities  long story , Achmed and Sam are in love, and Tiffany Stevens is the queen bee who picks on everyone, but also has super powers, like Jorge. It's that kind of story.
1. Chapter 1

The Secret Life of the Backyard Kids

"All right Jorge, you're the next guinea pig for my experiment. I'll shoot you with my laser," said Dmitri.

Dmitri zapped the laser, then Jorge turned into a kitten.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Dmitri, HOW COULD YOU-oh, I'm back to normal again."

He went to the bathroom and took off his shirt because he thought bits of cat hair were growing out of him.

Suddenly, he realized he was on camera.

"Oh, is someone here? Hello there. My name is Jorge Garcia, aka Jorge Raoul Luis Garcia III. I am quite the sharp dressed man, but I only have two major fashion standards I absolutely **refuse **to break.

No wearing white clothes after Labor Day.

No wearing clothes that animals died for.

He then said "My life's been very challenging, but I've been having a problem. It all started the last day of summer…" he said.

While he was getting a haircut, he decided to read a magazine.

"Let's see how my cousin Pablo is doing," he said.

"Yes, I'm so relaxed. This nice lady here will cut my hair, I'll read my celebrity magazine, and I have an eye doctor appointment in five minutes-wait, five minutes? But-wait, NOW? Sorry miss, I have to leave."

He zoomed out of the hairdresser's.

"Wow. He didn't even pay me," she said.

"Hey, cousin Jorge," said Pablo Sanchez when he zoomed out.

"Can't talk, Pablo. Gotta fly," said Jorge.

Jorge saw that the streets had a lot of traffic, and the sidewalks weren't much better. But he couldn't be late. His only option was to crawl-and run-through the vehicles. Also, his cousin Pablo was following him.

"Nowhere to Run" played in the background while Jorge tried to climb through the trucks.

Jorge made it to his eye doctor appointment in the nick of time. "Phew! Crisis averted."

Halfway through his appointment, his cousin Pablo finally caught up with him, looking wiped out.

"Oh my gosh! Jorge Garcia just outran Pablo Sanchez _on all fours_!" said Sunny Day.

"Jorge had to get across a busy street today. So, he ran on all fours. His cousin Pablo didn't get there until _after_ he got to the local eye doctor's-"

"Stop it! Get out of here!" he said, grabbing her TV camera and flinging it at her.

He eventually had to be restrained.

"-and that's why I'm afraid to go out in public." He then went downstairs.

"Look- I read the news today!" said Mr. Garcia.

"Oh boy," said Jorge.

Jorge sang the first two verses of "A Day In the Life" while taking a shower, combing his hair, brushing his teeth, and getting dressed. He barely made it to the bus.

Jorge had shiny midnight black hair that he tried to grow out, and that was sometimes dyed red or blue, with beautiful brown eyes he hid behind his glasses. His favorite bands were Evanescence, Good Charlotte, and the Beatles. Tony also liked the Beatles. He also took piano lessons after school on Wednesdays.

Angela was quite pretty, with long brown hair and bright brown eyes. Her favorite musicians were Avril Lavigne and Hilary Duff. Tiffany, on the other hand, liked Hilary Duff, Britney Spears (whom he disliked)…and Aaron Goldberg.

He was also battling the school's most popular girl, Tiffany Stevens. While Tiffany was not very nice, in villain mode she was downright evil. And Jorge was kind of a snob but even he thought she was a spoiled brat. If it weren't for his shyness-though it was more snobbishness than shyness-his heroism would make his social life incredibly easy. However, teachers, at least, knew and appreciated the fact he defended everyone, and he behaved accordingly at school. Most of the time, anyway…

He also played basketball until 4:00 on Tuesdays and spent the rest of the day studying his notes, which is why he did so well in school. Despite having to go through a lot of turmoil as a magical boy, his beauty was never, ever, **ever** tarnished. His butler Matthew Broderick, on the other hand…

Meanwhile, Tony had _two _girlfriends (ie the Webber twins), and even Sam thought he was cute (though she was already crushing on Achmed.) He was kind of dumb, though, when it came to school, and he was kind of sensitive. And Jorge and Achmed liked him despite being male, and, in Achmed's case, having Tiffany Stevens for a girlfriend (though she also liked Jorge despite being his enemy.)

Tiffany was a redhead with green eyes, and pretty tall for her age, which made her so intimidating. All the boys-Tony, Achmed, even Jorge had a crush on her in spite of her meanness, but only Achmed could have her-he _was_ a rock star, after all. Achmed also had plenty of girls after him-Angela, _both_ Webber twins, Tiffany (of course), even Vicki, Maria, Annie, and the new girl, Sam. She always wore a pair of fingerless leather gloves with a ring when she went to school, she was a cheerleader, and most of the boys thought she was very pretty, smile and all. However she wore a fur coat most of the time and the reason she was smiling was because animals were killed for it. Jorge also wore a fur coat but it was fake.

Tony sang the third verse of the song Jorge started when he was getting ready for school.

Jorge then sang the fourth verse when they got to the bus stop.

"You know, Jorge, we're as close as male friends can be in a children's story," said Tony.

"I know, Tony," said Jorge.

The boys sang "Be My Baby" to each other.

Everyone stared at them. "Move on, nothing to see here."


	2. Chapter 2

That afternoon, Jorge's screaming fans chased him around. The song "Don't Bring Me Down" played in the background.

Later that afternoon, Jorge's nanny Emily sat on his bed and talked with him.

"Jorge, it's almost your 12th birthday, and you'll be a wizard. Your mother and I are from a long line of wizards. I haven't-"

"So…you're asking _me_ to be your next heir?"

"You bet, Jorge. Do you know _why_ you were able to run on all fours so quickly?"

"No, why?"

"It must be the power in you restrained for so long. The day you were born, your mother told me to help you become a wizard when you reached age twelve, just in case she would not be there for your 12th birthday, because she was a wizard, and so am I. But wizards can exercise their powers no younger than the age of twelve, and must start practicing shortly before their twelfth birthday. However, they can use one junior spell shortly before the age of twelve."

Meanwhile, Sam was moving from California to Bricksfield, Washington. Her dad had just gotten a new job.

"But dad, the sun and beaches are in Cali! Washington is all cold all the time!" she tried to convince her dad.

"Samantha, we are moving, whether you like it or **not**!" snapped her dad. Her parents had to physically restrain her to get her to move, and even that was extremely difficult.

Sam was lost coming home, then found herself at a rock concert.

She starred at the attractive male singer.

"Who's he?" she asked another girl.

"Oh, he's Achmed. He's our juke box hero!" she said.

Likewise, he was performing "Juke Box Hero."

Samantha was a bit of a tomboy who didn't like to wear skirts, unlike "most" girls her age. (Or at least, that's what her mom insisted.) She was the only tomboy in her town, but that was okay, because the boys in her town, John, Corey, George, Matt, and Michael were really cool and nice.

Jorge came into school the next day wearing tights with a couple runs under his black shorts and a black shirt with holes in the sleeves, and black leather boots to top it off. He looked somewhat paler, and his hair grew out a bit with his hair growth spell. He shocked everyone.

"Your parents are going to _kill_ you when they find out you're wearing clothing like that!" said Joey.

"It's a fashion statement," he remarked back.

_No one will think that young, handsome, talented Jorge Garcia who outran Pablo Sanchez is dressed in rags_. He thought. _A good way to conceal my identity._ He also wore his fur coat over his grungy outfit, because his father would freak out if his son wore that to school.

Achmed got a detention slip that day for talking with Sam in class.

She and Achmed made good friends from the start, and Sam gave Achmed her email address.

In detention, Tony called Achmed on his phone.

"So Achmed, ya still in detention, huh?"

"I regret nothing!" said Achmed in a heavier Pakistani accent than usual.

Then Achmed got busted for another detention for talking on his phone.

After that, Tony went to go watch _Help!_ in his room, while Jorge went to his room to clip his nails.

Meanwhile, Achmed was talking to Sam on the internet.

"Hey Sam. I've been having fun playing rock music on Youtube. Did you know "Stairway to Heaven" was considered inappropriate according to Clear Channel after 9/11 which happened seven years ago today? That is insulting. Among other "inappropriate" tunes include "Travelin' Band" and "Jet Airliner." But I guess them hearing about airplanes after that would make them feel uncomfortable. PS Here's a video of me singing the latter song." Everyone knew Achmed as the rock music expert.

Sam clicked on the link and watched Achmed.

Jorge had a dream that night that he was shrunk with Dmitri's shrink-ray.

When he woke up, he thought he was getting shorter. He was 5'7 when he went to sleep, but seemingly 5'4 when he woke up.


	3. Chapter 3

He then went to school.

Suddenly, Jorge's Iphone was ringing in the middle of history class. Jorge went to the bathroom to answer his message.

"Master Jorge, Tiffany Stevens has tied up the mayor of Seattle. Go out there and save him! Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm talking to you, well, your nanny told me everything. We are husband and wife, you know… "

"Okay, Matthew. But what do I do?"

"Well, Tiffany is refusing to accept anyone who looks like a tough hero. You'll have to disguise as a girl."

"Okay. But how?"

"I packed in your bag a dark brown bob wig, and a pretty purple dress with boots for you to wear. You know my motto: always be prepared!"

Jorge changed into the dress, boots, and wig. He could fake a good female voice, but he sounded like Stevie Nicks.

He then took a walk to Tiffany's house and rang her doorbell.

"And who can that be? A new female minion?" she said to herself.

She was hanging out in her room wearing a tiara, leotard, gold bracelets, heels, a necklace and stockings, practicing being "Queen of the World."

"Hello, my name is Anna Santana," "she" said to Tiffany.

"Sounds like Hannah Montana. Anyways, you want to be another minion, huh? Well, you'll have to meet my other minions, Anavi Ali and Muhammed Khan. They're Achmed's cousins. Her cousin Achmed is my boyfriend, and he's so lucky to have me as a girlfriend! By the way, you sound like a kid I know from school…Jorge?"

"No, who is he anyway?"

"Some kid at school I hate. He thinks he's better than me 'cause he has money. Oh, and his glasses look dorky. I hate him."

Suddenly, Jorge's phone went off. He answered it.

"Hello, Dmitri," he said after clearing his throat and changing his breathy, low voice as Anna Santana to his regular, husky one.

"Dmitri, I told you, I can't come to your house tonight, I have, well…"

He was cut off when Tiffany threw her purse at him.

"I knew it! Anna Santana doesn't exist! It's just the young Mr. Jorge Garcia in disguise as a woman!"

"So I am! And I found out you kidnapped John Parker, mayor of Bricksfield! And I know magic!" he said.

She just stared at him. "Uh oh…"

"Well, not very much…"

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"But I can transform you into something hideous and helpless, you lovely lady!" Jorge said "lovely" very sarcastically.

He flipped through his magic book, and spoke to himself quietly, while pointing his wand at her.

"Bonita fea! Bonita fea! Bella fea!"

Jorge's spell tore Tiffany's clothes, disheveled her hair, and scarred her body.  
>"My face! My beautiful face!"<p>

"Don't worry, it'll wear off in a day or two," said Jorge.

Tiffany smiled.

"…I think."

Tiffany screamed; Jorge set John Parker free and dashed back to school. Just in time for lunch!

That weekend, everyone just decided to unwind after three very eventful first days of school.

Jorge was singing a song in his room. The song was called "Knockin' On Heaven's Door."

"My mother would always play this song for me when I was little," he tearfully told his butler.

"I see," he said.

Meanwhile, Joey was playing pretend in his living room.

"It's a post-apocalyptic world. The streets are packed with criminals, hobos, and thugs left and right. A bomb will destroy it all. The only person who can save us now is Joey! Richard! Macadoo!" said Joey.

Suddenly, all the other kids from Bricksfield saw him through the big window in his living room. They all laughed.

"I see London!" said Tony.

"I see France!" said Achmed.

"I see Joey's underpants! Ha ha ha!" said Vicki.

"I fail to see what is so humorous about all this," said Jorge.

"Are you really wearing your mom's pink shirt?" asked Tony.

"No…it's my dad's!" said Joey.

Everyone just stared at him.

"What? My dad's a mechanic," he said. "And the reason I'm wearing a pink shirt and no pants is because I'm so awesome, I can walk around in a pink shirt without pants any day of the week. That's why my dad owns this shirt."

"You're not wearing pants? Gross!" said Angela.

"I taped it for America's Funniest Home Videos," said Sam.

"I thought that show was cancelled!" said Joey.

"Nuh uh!" said Sam, who then took a picture of him.

Okay…this is as embarrassing as it gets, thought Joey to himself.

Suddenly, a plane appeared overhead.

"We repeat: I see London," said one of the men on the plane.

"I see France," said the other one.

"I see some guy's underpants," the first man said.

"Oooh!" said Joey. He went to his room.

Achmed was playing an acoustic version of the song "Burning Love" on his guitar in his room after the incident.  
>"You familiar with the work of Elvis Presley?" Achmed asked Tony when Tony went to Achmed's house.<p>

"Yep!" said Tony.

"Awesome!" said Achmed. "Let's rock and roll!"

Tony and Achmed sang "Burning Love" together. 


	4. Chapter 4

Angela woke up on Monday morning feeling very tired (though her satin nightie did not help) and rushed to open her window. This was the day she would get the hottest guy in school, also her brother's best friend, Jorge Garcia, to notice her. She decided to wear a pink sweater vest and a plaid skirt to impress him.

Tony woke up, combed his hair, drank a cup of tea, and was late for the bus, as usual. He barely had enough time to get dressed, and his dad drove him to school. He chilled out with the local classic rock radio station, which was playing "A Day in the Life."

Achmed sniffed himself and changed his mind about taking a shower, though he did use deodorant.

Dmitri woke up, took a shower, combed his hair, ate breakfast, got dressed, and brushed his teeth. Like Tony, he was late for the bus, as usual.

Joey washed up, got dressed, then went down for cereal.

Sam was woken up at 6 am, then went downstairs for pancakes with syrup and two soft-boiled eggs. She also wiped down her mirror, put on the necklace her friend John got her as a going away present, and took her wet towels off the floor. Like Tony and Dmitri, she was late for the bus, and her mom had to drive her.

Jorge was late for school, trying to pack his magic book and superhero outfit in a bag. Just in case.

"We are going to do an amazing song when we come into school," he said when he got to school. "They don't call us the Cool Guys for nothing! Achmed, Tony-"

Oh my god, he said my name! thought Tony to himself.

"-we will sing the famous Queen song "We Will Rock You." I'll sing the first verse, Tony will sing the second verse, and Achmed will sing the third verse. And Joey will be saying things like "Sing It!" and "Everybody!" right before we say "We Will Rock You."

Boys, arrange your spots, please."

All the boys got in their places.

Jorge got a stereo and put it in the middle of the room.

Tony started to stamp his foot and clap to the beat.

The other two boys clapped.

"We will, we will-rock you!" said Achmed.

The boys sang "We Will Rock You."

Jorge:

Buddy you're a boy make a big noise  
>Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day<br>You got mud on yo' face  
>You big disgrace<br>Kickin' your can all over the place

All three:

We will we will rock you  
>We will we will rock you<p>

Tony:

Buddy you're a young man hard man  
>Shoutin' in the street gonna take on the world some day<br>You got blood on yo' face  
>You big disgrace<br>Wavin' your banner all over the place

All three:

We will we will rock you  
>We will we will rock you<p>

Achmed:

Buddy you're an old man poor man  
>Pleadin' with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day (Achmed also made a peace sign, and even drew a peace sign on his wrist the day before)<br>You got mud on your face  
>You big disgrace<br>Somebody better put you back in your place

All three:

We will we will rock you  
>We will we will rock you<p>

Achmed played the guitar solo at the end.

Suddenly, Dmitri banged his hand down on the piano.

"Dmitri, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" said Jorge.

"Nothing," said Dmitri.

"They why'd you start hitting the piano RIGHT AFTER WE FINISHED THE SONG!"

"I just wanted a part in the song!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, Dmitri, I have a deep, dark secret.

"What is it?"

"I'm…actually a magic boy."

"Well, your secret's safe with me, Jorge."

"Okay."

Suddenly, the bell rang.

All five boys went to class.

Suddenly, the loudspeaker came on.

"All auditionees for chorus class please report to the auditorium now."

Jorge, Tony, and Dmitri left the room to go to the auditorium.

The music teacher for the chorus auditions was a brunette, semi-Japanese man in a flannel shirt, vest, hat with a feather, and brown pants and shoes.

"I have a song that will TEAR THE ROOF OFF THIS PLACE!" said Tony.

The music teacher sat there in silence, very shocked.

Jorge sighed. "That's Tony for you...;"

Tony sang "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" for his audition.

"Tony-you're in!" said the music teacher.

"Tony's always been a big ham," said Jorge.

"Of course. Dude, you ain't seen nuthin' yet!" said Tony.

"Okayyy..."

"Like I said, that's Tony for you."

"Et tu, Jorge?" said the music teacher.

"I have a nice song for the audition…" said Jorge.

Jorge sang "One After 909" for his audition.

"Wow, Jorge, you're even better than Tony! You're also in chorus."

Jorge just smiled.

Dmitri also auditioned for chorus.

"Well, any guy who looks like Elton John has to be at least somewhat talented."

"You bet!" said Dmitri. "In fact, I'll sing one of his songs right now!

Dmitri sang "Crocodile Rock."

"Wow Dmitri, for a nerd, you can surely sing your heart out! You're in!"

After school, Tony's little sister Angela told him "I'm going to get Jorge to notice me, then he'll be all mine for me to take to the Spring Fling by the end of the year." It was going to be Angela's first dance, and she didn't want to be single for it.

"But of course you will, Angie," said Tony, sarcastically.

"I will! Just you wait and see!" Angela snapped back.

She saw Jorge walking out of school, and walked up to him, looking up at his face and having her hands behind her back together.

"Well hello, tall, dark, and handsome!"

He just walked on by.

On the bus ride home, Angela told Tony "You was right, Tony. I can't see how a tall drink of water like him would go out with an overly cute, immature babyface like me. I suck."

"I couldn't agree more," said Tony. "Besides, he's my best friend, and kids these days just don't date they best friends' little sisters. In other words, I told ya so."

"Oh well," said Angela.

They were bickering on the bus about what song to listen to (they shared an Ipod.) Tony wanted to listen to the Beatles but Angela wanted to listen to Avril Lavigne.

"Calling Avril Lavigne rock is like calling pizza a vegetable. This is the REAL THING!"

"But I LIKE Avril Lavigne!"

The two bickered, but eventually negotiated on Avril's cover of John Lennon's "Imagine."


	5. Chapter 5

When Jorge went home from school that Monday, he found Angela clinging to his leg.

"Emily, what new spells-Angela, get off my leg," he told her.

He even sounds handsome! Angela thought to herself.

"MATTHEW!" snapped Jorge.

His butler had to restrain her to get her off his leg.

Later that day, Achmed sang and practiced the Eagles songs "Take It Easy" and "Heartache Tonight" on guitar.

Meanwhile, Joey was in his room, singing "Hollywood Nights."

Jorge sat in his room, feeling sorry for himself. His mom died when he was seven, and his dad pushed him to be perfect, and sometimes his grandfather would too. His butler and nanny kept him hanging on. But if his mom was still alive, she would make his dad put less pressure on him.

He called his friend Tony, telling him everything.

"You see, Tony, the reason I'm such a brat is because…my mother died when I was seven, and my father pushed me to be perfect, and sometimes my grandfather would too. My butler and nanny kept me hanging on. But if my mother was still alive, she would make my father put less pressure on me.

"Aww…that's too bad. Here's a song for you," said Tony.

The boys sang "Dream On" together.

"Awww…thanks, darling." Jorge told Tony.

"Wait…what?" said Tony.

But deep down, he was thinking, Oh my god, I just hit the jackpot!

Jorge then went to his room to play "Building a Mystery" on piano.

Then Dmitri called him.

"So Jorge, who are you going to be for Halloween?"

"Johnny Cash."

"Cool. I'm going to be Elton John."

Jorge knew who Elton John was. He thought he was a pudgy man who wore tacky suits. It didn't surprise him, though, that Dmitri was going to be him for Halloween. He and him looked very much alike.

Meanwhile, Achmed was singing "This Is Love" to a photo of him, Jorge, and Tony in his room circa 2004.

That night, Jorge was contemplating the death of his mother, which happened four years ago that day.

He walked up to his window, and sung a song for her called "Christina" ("Julia" with all the "Julias" changed to "Christinas.")

Then came Jorge's 12th birthday. He woke up, toke a shower, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, trimmed his nosehairs, got dressed, and ate his breakfast. He also missed the bus, and Angela said hi to him at school.

"Hello, princess," he responded.

She squealed with delight.

"EhmagodEhmagodOHMYGOD! Jorge called me princess!" she told Tony.

"Big deal. He has pet names for all the ladies. Princess, darling, cutie, etc. etc."

Most of his relatives got him cash-which he didn't already need-but his Uncle Adrian got him something special.

"This book is called Perry Hotter. It's about a boy with magic powers, just like you. Pablo's a huge fan."

"Okay," said Jorge. He had no interest in reading the book...yet.

October 9th, 2008 would be a day Jorge Garcia would never forget. It started out ordinary-he started out the day by eating breakfast and brushing his teeth, and it would have been John Lennon's 68th birthday, and he was one of Jorge's heroes. He brought a John Lennon CD to be played during gym class.

"Tony, this is John Lennon. Do you know who he was?"

"One of the Beatles?"

"Yep. You know who they were?"

"They were a rock band?"

"They were one of the first rock bands."

Suddenly, his phone went off.

"Hey Jorge, I know what you did to me, and I just found out I have magic powers like you. I've been training, and I WILL have my revenge-TONIGHT!"

Jorge ignored the message until the end of the day, after he finished his homework and finished eating dinner.

He then changed into a gray suit and black leather jacket with matching boots, belt, eye mask, and cape.

"It's time for some Breakfast at Tiffany's," he said when he left the bathroom.

He then ran all the way to Tiffany's house.

"Jumpin' Jack Flash" played while he ran.


	6. Chapter 6

Tiffany was wearing a black dress, a necklace, and high heels.

Suddenly, she snapped her fingers and a giant cat appeared in her place.

Jorge was very scared. He then called his nanny.

"Emily, I can't stop Tiffany, I just can't!"

"Yes you can. I can't teach you much, because Lola, Matthew's niece, is getting her ears pierced because today is her 16th birthday. My sister and friends are sharing her pain with her."

"You expect a 90-pound weakling like me to defeat a giant cat like her? Are you crazy?"

"Yes I do. You'll have to do the black panther spell in your book."

"Well…OK."

Jorge opened his book and read the spell to himself quietly, while pointing his wand to himself.

"Sapien pantera, sapien pantera, sapien pantera…"

"Jorge, are you still there?" she asked. She hung up.

Jorge went on all fours. Suddenly, his eyes turned goldish-green and his pupils slit. All his nails grew to talon length and scratched the floor. His skinny body bulked up with muscle and black fur grew all over his body. His hands and feet got more pawlike and his jaw bulged forward, making a muzzle, and a tail shot from his spine.

He growled, jumped up and pushed a big, broken plasma TV at Tiffany. He charged forward after Tiffany merely giggled.

Kitty… she thought.

Since they could read each other's minds, Jorge in panther form got angry.

Kitty? I'll show you who's kitty, he thought.

They then bonked each other's heads.

He growled at Tiffany,who was so scared she reverted back to normal.

After that, he went and licked Tiffany's face, and went outside.

He was sooo tired, he and his legs just couldn't take it anymore. His nails grew shorter, his eyes went back to brown, and his hands, feet, skin, and jawbone went back to normal. His body shrunk back to its normal state, and his tail shrunk into his spine.

He was wearing nothing more than leather pants, a dirty white shirt, and a fur-trimmed leather jacket. He didn't know if it was fake or not, but he was shivering from loss of body heat, and found it difficult to breathe because the transformation was too much on his body. It was either that or he'd suffer.

"I…have no idea what just happened," he said while trying to stand upright after he walked back into Tiffany's house.

Once Tiffany went to finish Jorge off, she was about to finally finish him when…she kissed him.

"Tiffany… what's gotten into you?" he replied back.

"I... have no idea," she said.

Suddenly, Jorge realized he was doing the Kiss spell in his magic book! All he needed to do was listen to the Prince song of the same name on his Ipod. He really needed to review the spells in his book.

"But I still like you!" she said.

"Wait…did I just say that out loud?" she said later.

"Yes, yes you did," Jorge told her.

He rolled his eyes and slashed a "J" through her dress. She screamed.

Jorge ran out of her house, put on his hat, and suddenly…did the Michael Jackson dance from the end of "Black or White." What power in him was making him do it? Then, he found his father's bank. He threw a hammer he found on the floor at the window.

Serves him right for ruining my life, thought Jorge.

He then went home, went to his dad's car, took out his Swiss Army Knife, and angrily slashed a "J" in the driver's seat. He also got out his baseball bat and smashed all the windows.

He fell down in a wet puddle, tore his white shirt, and screamed.

"Wow," said Tony Sr. when he heard Jorge scream. "That's the loudest scream I've ever heard."

"I'm scared," said Angela.

"And I'm tired," said Tony.

Angela decided to tuck him in, and even read him a bedtime story: The 500 Hats of Barthlmelow Cubbins.

She then sung "Good Night" as a lullaby to him.

When Jorge came home, he took his fur coat and white shirt off. He was ten pounds pudgier than before, and his dark brown hair was turning red.

What happened to me? He thought to himself.

He rushed to tell his nanny.

"Emily, Emily!" he cried. "Why did I gain weight? Why am I a little bit stronger than before? Why am I asking you?"

"Jorge, do you know what happened to you?" said Emily.

"No…"

"I know what happened. You mutated into a black panther with no inhibitions, and got a little bit stronger than before. How did it feel like?"

""I felt free, like…I could release my anger I had to hide while out in public as myself. I did feel myself getting stronger, and someone probably would have noticed, but it was nighttime, and I was too strong and angry to care. Inside of me there is a wild animal, but I can't release him as a human, lest it be all over the tabloids. And no, it didn't hurt all that much.….did my father hear our conversation?"

"Of course not. We're in my room, and he's working at his desk downstairs."

"That's good. If he found out I transformed into a wild animal, he'd abandon me in a heartbeat."

She then tucked him in after he got ready for bed.

"Goodnight, Emily."

"Aren't I forgetting something?"

"The Linda Ronstadt CD?"

"Yes I am! I'll play it for you."

She went to play the CD, and sung along to the first song that played.

While I'm far away from you my baby…I know it's hard for you my baby…Because it's hard for me my baby…And the darkest hour is just before dawn…Each night before you go to bed, my baby…whisper a little prayer for me my baby…and tell all the stars above…this is dedicated to the one I love…

Hearing the clash of two beautiful female voices gave Jorge sweet dreams.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day at school was relatively normal for Jorge, what with brushing his teeth and eating breakfast, until Dmitri showed him a newspaper.

"Give me that!" said Jorge.

"Panther Boy Wrecks Bank? Really? Dmitri, how did you-I mean, what made you do this?"

"When Tiffany found the bank full of broken glass, she told me the whole story. And I didn't have a story for the newspaper, so, well, I-"

Jorge grabbed him by his neck and threw him through the wall.

Angela just walked on by.

Jorge then went to say "hi" to his uncle Adrian, who was also the Spanish teacher and Pablo's father.

"Hey, Uncle Adrian."

"Hey Jorge! Remember! The beat goes on!"

"Beat goes on, Uncle Adrian!" said Jorge.

He then went to talk with Tony.

"Hey, Tony."

"Hey, Panther-Boy."

"Don't call me that! Ugh...I hate Dmitri."

"So Jorge, when made you channel your inner Michael Jackson?"

"I can tell you at lunch."

Lunch was tomato soup.

"...So Tony, all I had to do was recite a spell in my book, and the magic running through my veins could tell my brain what it should have my body do. I'm like...Perry Hotter. Tuxedo Mask. Michael Jackson, all merged into one awesome dude."

"Or at least...Panther-Boy," Tony giggled.

"What?"

"...Nothing."

Suddenly, Angela was coming to sit with them. Tiffany tripped her and she fell over her sprained ankle.

Jorge immediately came to her rescue, cleaning her up, and offering to get her another lunch.

"Tiffany Stevens tripped this young lady and made her lose her lunch. I would like to buy another one for her. How does $20 sound to you? Say what? I'm Jorge Garcia and I demand answers!"

"Okay..."

Angela let out a squeal of joy.

After Angela got her lunch, she and Jorge went to go talk.

"So Jorge, I found out what you did last night. What was that all about?"

"Well, I'm...from a long line of wizards, and my mother and cousin Pablo have magic powers."

"Pablo? That explains why he's so cool!"

"Yeah, yeah. Angela, I'm also fighting Tiffany Stevens..."

"Cool!"

"Yeah, yeah. Then yesterday, she transformed into a giant cat, and I got very scared."

"Okay...then what happened?

"I was so scared, I didn't know what to do. I called my nanny and she told me to recite the black panther spell in my book."

"Why?"

"She couldn't teach me much, because my butler's niece, Lola, was getting her ears pierced, and she wanted to...uh...share her pain with her and her friends."

"What?"

"Yeah, she's weird like that. Anyways, after that, I recited the spell, pointed the wand to my brain, and my DNA changed, and...I...uh...went from being a princely young man to a savage animal. It made me so strong and agile, that now I'm half-human, half-panther…is that okay with you?"

"That's okay," said Angela. "I honestly think it's pretty cool you can turn into a black panther," she said, smiling.

The bell rang and all the kids went to class.

"Well class, today is Monday…the perfect day for a pop quiz!"

Oh, brother. Thought Jorge. My secret identity gets revealed and now this?

"This is the perfect time for a surprise pop quiz," Jorge said sarcastically.

"Jorge, Mr. Stern told us on Thursday. Remember?" said Pablo.

"…AND I had plenty of time to study for the pop quiz. But no, I had to fight Tiffany Stevens and talk to Tony and Dmitri on Facebook. What was I thinking?"

Sam and Angela were studying together. The two had made good friends over the past month. Achmed was studying with Tony, The Webber twins were studying with each other, Arthur was studying with Joey, and Dmitri was in the nurse's office. After Jorge threw him through the wall, it badly bruised his elbow, but nothing more. Reese was home sick.

After the quiz, the kids went to gym class. Mr. Harrison, the gym teacher, made the kids do push-ups.

"One…two…three…four…Jorge," said Angela.

Everyone stared at her.

"…What? I can't help it if he's so cute."

"One word Angie: Really?" asked Tony, who was wearing a "Brony" t-shirt.

"Oh, brother," said Jorge quietly to himself. "This is the worst day of my life."


	8. Chapter 8

Dmitri came home that day, half-upset.

"Mother! Jorge threw me through a wall!"

"Well, what did you do, Dmitri?" she said.

"Can we just stick with the topic, please! You see, Tiffany told me about Jorge, then I posted the story in the newspaper, then he got angry at me and-well, you know."

Meanwhile, Jorge was talking with his nanny.

"Jorge, shapeshifting is a serious business in the wizard community."

"I did what I had to do to survive!"

"Turning into an animal means you have their abilities for life, plus any "furry" traits like tails, ears, claws or fangs. Unless you drink one glass of grape juice per day."

"Why?"

"Grape juice apparently has the strength to deplete you of your animalistic tendencies, for some reason. The process is very gradual, and if you miss one day, you'll lose some of your progress."

"What if I do live with my new powers, get married, and have children?"

"Wizards can get their powers from their mother or both parents, but never from only their father. So unless you marry another young wizard woman, your children will be ordinary muggles. You see, I could only teach you so much-"

"-Because you were sharing Lola's pain with your friends while she got her ears pierced."

"-Yes, and so I told you the first spell that came to my mind."

"Okay."

"Did you reveal your secret identity to anyone?"

"Well…no….Dmitri did!"

"Jorge, you can't let anyone reveal your secret identity, but we'll deal with that tomorrow."

Jorge put on his giant Good Charlotte shirt he used for pajamas and fell asleep in his gothic canopy bed.

Meanwhile, Tiffany was in her room, wearing the same necklace she wore when she fought Jorge Garcia, Panther Boy.

"So, Jorge can morph into a black panther, huh? Well, that ain't normal. I mean, giving me that spell that made me ugly wasn't normal, but…all he did was utter a few words and he went from being a tall, dark and handsome boy into a panther? That's beyond weird. Just what are his weaknesses? I must know what it is so I can RULE THE WORLD!"

She picked up a book about wizards.

"Ah-ha. Any wizard who shapeshifts into an animal manifests their powers for the rest of their life. For example, any wizard who turns into a cat becomes a cat humanoid for the rest of their life. Also, if you put a clip on the scruff of a catboy, he starts going haywire with his cat instincts and becomes a cat over the course of four months. Until you take off the clip, of course."

That weekend, Jorge decided to relax with some ginger snaps and some old horror movies.

On Monday, she kidnapped him, decided to torture him with Britney Spears, and while he was busy yelling at her she put an invisible clip on his scruff. (She used her powers to make it invisible.) He stopped.

Jorge's Halloween costume was Johnny Cash. He dressed up in a white shirt, black leather jacket, and black jeans.

"And just where do you think you're going, young man?" asked his dad.

"But father…"

"How will the tabloids react when they find out that young, clean-cut Jorge Garcia is wearing, well…that?"

"I don't know…"

Suddenly, Jorge's butler came into the room.

"It's Halloween, and Jorge's Johnny Cash. Deal with it," he said.

"Okay."

Jorge met up with Tony, Achmed, Joey, Dmitri, and Sam at school. Tony was a football player, Achmed a rock star, Joey a ghost, Dmitri Elton John, Sam Brian Wilson, and Angela a punk fairy, complete with an Abbey Dawn dress. Ernie, who was a mummy, was showing Joey some pictures from a scary book he got out of the library.

Jorge was very surprised that Dmitri was not wearing a tacky suit like he expected.  
>The boys went trick-or-treating. Suddenly, they came to a very spooky house at the end of the block.<p>

Jorge knocked on the door, and a tall, gray-haired man answered.

"Ah. Roy Orbison, a football player, and a rocker."

"I'm Johnny Cash!" said Jorge.

"Oh, and by the way, the ghost is catching up with us. It's basically my friend Joey in a sheet. He's not a real ghost," said Tony.

"Sing for me, Johnny!" said the man.

Jorge sang "Walk the Line."

Ahhh….What a gorgeous voice. Thought Angela.

By then, Dmitri, and Sam had caught up with them.

"And what do we have here? Elton John and Brian Wilson. I'll have to get you kids candy."

He went to get the kids candy.

Halloween is the one holiday where I can give kids candy without knowing who they are…wait, what?, he thought to himself.

He quickly grabbed some boxes of Mike & Ike and threw them into the kids' bags.

"Here you go!" he shouted.

They all stared at him.

"Wow. That was quick," said Jorge after a second of silence.

"Thank you!" said Sam.

"You're welcome, young man!"

Sam took off her short wig.

"I'm a girl!"

"Ooooh…sorry. For a minute there I thought you were a boy with a really high voice!"

Sam laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

"You know Sam, you look cute and all, but maybe I can take you shopping and give you a rock n' roll makeover!" Achmed told Sam.

"Okayyy…."

The next day was Saturday, and Sam started the day by brushing her teeth, painting her toenails black, getting dressed, calling Achmed, and listening to her Beach Boys and Madonna CDs. She and Achmed went shopping at the mall. Achmed found a Beatles shirt, a black leather skirt, tights, and high heels boots for Sam. Then Sam got interested in the makeup one store was selling, and bought eyeliner, foundation, and grape-purple lip gloss.

Sam went to school Monday wearing the outfit, and shocked everyone. Achmed had to explain to a lot of people why Sam was wearing the outfit she was wearing.

"Do you like your new outfit?"

"It kinda grows on me…"

"YES!"

Achmed sent Sam a text after school.

It said:

"Meet me at the Leaning Tower of Pizza. Awesome concert there and I want you to be there as my girlfriend!"

Sam texted back:

"Okay…cool."

Sam went to Achmed's concert, and heard Achmed play "Any Way You Want It", "Whole Lotta Love", and "Magic Carpet Ride."

"I would like to dedicate this song to my girlfriend, Sam. Keep rocking, Sam!"

Sam went up and sang "Get Ready" with Achmed.

After the concert, Sam went to talk with Achmed.

"You know what, Achmed?"

"What?"

"I think I like you!"

"I think I like you too, Sam!"

They smiled at each other.

Jorge's life went back to normal in November, though his new powers gave him new instincts-he could smell Angela's hair from six inches away-and on November 11th, Memorial Day, he had a nightmare. Tiffany pushed him into a zoo exhibit, and he was trapped with a giant lion and got very scared.

He could feel the transformation coming back to him, as his eyes turned goldish-green and his pupils slit, his nails grew to talon length, his skinny body bulked up with muscle, black fur grew all over his body, his hands and feet turned into paws, his jaw bulged forward, making a muzzle, and a tail shot from his spine.

He growled and charged forward. The two animals wrestled together, then the lion blinded Jorge by scattering dirt in his eyes.

He started morphing back to his normal self, then woke up and screamed.

Jorge's Uncle Adrian came into his room.

"Jorge, you know it's all right. I'll love your forever and ever and ever. Would you like to talk?"

"Yes, please."

"What would you like to talk about?"

"Well, you know how I used to be such a sweet little child when I was seven?"

"Yes."

"That was shortly after my mother died. I was still trying to recover, and my father was pressuring me to be perfect, but my childlike innocence kept me a cheerful little imp who loved Roy Orbison."

"Oh yeah. I remember that."

"And now with me being a teenager soon, and knowing what the real world is, and me compressing my feelings for about four years, living a lie…I'm worried I might snap again sooner or later, like last October when I transformed into a panther to protect myself against Tiffany and went on to get revenge of my father. Remember that?"

"Oh yeah. It was in your school newspaper, with your name on it."

"Unfortunately. But I still have anger inside of me, in fact, more than ever. You know what this means?"

"What?"

"If I'm put in the right circumstances, like with my new powers, I could unleash all my anger. Face it, I'm living a nightmare every day. There's a very, VERY angry young man inside of me, but I don't know when or even why he'll be unleashed again, like on the night I transformed into an animal. What if you're there, Adrian?"

"I don't know…I can't ever make you act like the polite young gentleman you are 100% of the time, especially since that's your father's job, and I know you can't control yourself. This is not the real you."

"Oh, Uncle Adrian, I don't know what will become of me…"

"Oh dear…"

"Oh dear is right," said Jorge snarkily.

He then went to talk to Pablo. Pablo and his father were staying at Jorge's house for Veteran's Day.

"Good morning, Pablo."

"Hey, Dad. You know what?"

"What?"

"Doesn't Cousin Jorge remind you of Zorro?"

"I can see the comparison, Pablo, wealthy, young Hispanic men with dashing alter egos."

Jorge overheard them in his room.


	10. Chapter 10

For Christmas, all the kids got each other presents. Achmed got Sam a Beach Boys t-shirt, Sam got Achmed a keychain with a guitar on it, and Jorge got Angela a boxed set of Lizzie McGuire books and a copy of Hilary Duff's latest album, _Dignity_. He knew she liked Hilary Duff. Adrian gave his Spanish class baseball caps and copies of _Jose Felicano's All-Time Greatest Hits_.

Jorge developed a rash along his lower leg, and got sick on January 20th, 2009.

Jorge woke up and got dressed, then brushed his hair into a Beatle like haircut, washed up, and put on some face cream.

Jorge then went to give his cousin Pablo a hug, but he almost strangled poor Pablo with his newfound panther strength.

He decided to spend his sick day watching movies he liked, like The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Suddenly, some people were at Jorge's door.

"He's not human! He's a witch!"

"Witches aren't male…" said Jorge.

"That's not the point!"

He then went to the bathroom. He thought he had cat hair growing out of his rash, a tail growing from his spine, his hands and feet becoming paws, and he noticed his eyes were yellow. He freaked out.

I really am a monster! He thought.

He thought he was going crazy, and he didn't want it to happen. At all. Ever.

He screamed and slashed a "Z" on his dad's curtain.

Jorge's butler went to go see Tiffany, who was restraining Anavi.

"Jorge, Tiffany just captured Anavi and is holding her hostage. You have to go out there and save her!" he told Jorge when he got home. (Jorge was well enough to fight Tiffany.)

Jorge immediately put on his cape, black hat, black suit, and mask before dashing out of the house.

Sam saw Jorge sneak out from his house from her window.

"Who was that masked man?" she said to herself. "It can't be Jorge, Jorge is a wimp."

Tiffany was barefoot, and her nails were long and painted.

Suddenly, she grabbed Anavi.

"Let go of her," said Jorge.

"Make me."

Jorge grabbed her, let her go, and dashed out. Anavi fell in love with him.

Who was that dashing young man? She thought.

Adrian was working at the school, and Achmed was in detention for skipping school to go to a Journey concert.

"Don't stop…thinking about tomorrow..."

"That song was used for Bill Clinton's running campaign." said Achmed.

"You really do know your rock and roll history, don't you, Achmed?"

"Yep. I even know all the great musicians who died at 27…in the order they died in. Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain.

"You forgot one."

"Which one?"

"Robert Johnson. He was a blues musician during the early 1930s."

"Oh."

When Jorge came into school after being sick at the end of January, the Super Bowl was all his friends could talk about.

"You know, we have a name for the night the Superbowl's on TV," said Reese.

"Movie Night!" said Dmitri.

"What movie are you guys watching, anyway?" Jorge asked.

"Ummm…Sunset Boulevard," said Reese.

"Hey, you guys like old movies too?" said Tony.

"Since when do you like old movies, Tony?"

"Are you kidding, Jorge? I love old movies! My favorite movie is Gone With The Wind."

"Really?

"Yep! In fact, I watched that movie with my dad last week, for the fifteenth time. I even stayed up until 11:30 to watch it. Fortunately, the next day was a Sunday with nothing to do."

"I hear it's going to make history!" said Reese.

"But of course. Someone's actually going to watch it!" Dmitri remarked back.

He then went to talk to Angela.

"You know Jorge, Hilary Duff dated the lead singer for Good Charlotte-whoever he is-for 2 ½ years."

"That's nice, Angie," he said.

Then he just walked on by.

"What a dream boat!" said his friend Tony, who also blushed.

"...What?" said Achmed.

"...Sorry, that was an inside thought," said Tony.


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, Dmitri Petrovich discovered he had a crush on an actress named Jennifer Rose. When he came to school he wouldn't stop telling him about how much he loved her.

"Why do you love her?" Jorge asked him.

"Because she's such a talented actress and she's so pretty to boot," said Dmitri. "In fact, I even have a song for her!"

He sang "8675-309 Jenny."

"Okkaaayyyyyy….." said Jorge.

Jorge called Tony after school.

Tony and his phone fell off his bed and he jumped right back up.

"Yesss?"

"Tony, Dmitri said my secret was safe with him. However, he always tries to let it slip. Like today, he even said "Gee, I wonder who that dashing young man who fights Tiffany Stevens could be?" I'm getting sick of it."

"Why don't you just tell him?"

"Okay."

Matthew went to talk with Jorge.

"You know, Tiffany wants to brainwash everyone at Bricksfield Junior High into being her slaves."

"Uh oh…that can't be good. How does she want to do it?"

"She's putting special bugs into everyone's ears when they probably won't notice. And then she'll program these bugs to their heads to control what they think, say, and do. People with magic powers, like yourself, are immune to it, though."

"Oh dear."

"Oh dear is right. Also, Jorge I read somewhere that the real you is who you are when no one's watching. Do you know what that means?"

"What?"

"When you transformed into a panther that other day, after you transformed back into yourself, you destroyed your father's car and bank. That was your angry, animalistic side shining through."

"I know, Matthew."

Jorge then talked to Reese at lunch the next day.

"Reese, I have a deep, dark secret."

"What is it? Are you Batman?"

"Shut up, Reese! I hate Batman! He wears his underwear over his tights!"

He then met up with Dmitri.

"Dmitri, you just can't-"

"Hey look, Jorge, squirrel!" said Dmitri, pointing to the window. (There was no squirrel.)

Jorge face-palmed.

Dmitri went to talk with Reese privately, and Jorge went to see Anavi.

"Anavi, you're pretty and all, but after you take your beautiful hair out of that bun and stop slouching, you'd be lovely!"

"I can't. Tiffany is making me."

Jorge then used the mind control spell to make Tiffany nice to Anavi, then undid her hair.

"There. _Now_ you're beautiful."

Anavi was so happy, she hugged Jorge.

Tiffany was using her magic powers to keep herself even more beautiful and evil than she already was, checking herself out in mirrors, and making sure everyone in school knew she was the most beautiful girl in the world. She even turned a couple of kids (Dante and Marky) into rats for even _thinking_ otherwise.

The last class of the day was science class, and Mr. Morrison gave each of the kids permission slips.

"We'll be visiting the Liberty Science Center the day before Valentine's Day, February 13th."

Jorge went to photography club after school. It would be his first meeting there, his father just signed him up.

"Oh and by the way Jorge, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so six more weeks of winter," said Pablo out of the blue. (It was Groundhog Day, and Pablo was also at photography club.)

"Pablo, remember that rhyme bout Groundhog Day we learned in first grade, if Groundhog doesn't see his shadow here, spring is very near, but if he sees his shadow small, winter isn't gone at all…or maybe the first two rhymes are the other ways around…oh Pablo, those were the good old days when we were still young children and the world was beautiful place and my mother was still alive."

"I'm still a young child!" said Pablo.

"Oh."

Pablo Sanchez rapped the song from _The Simpsons_ Zorro movie.

"From the Z to the O to the double R-O,

he's the dude in the mask from the barrio.

With his horse and his mask and his big old sword,

he'll cut your butt from a '52 Ford.

"Ah, my favorite Simpsons episode."

_ "Gee, I wonder why," said Jorge sarcastically. He already knew that Pablo was a huge Zorro fanboy._


	12. Chapter 12

And of course, there was the awesome trip to the Liberty Science Center February 13th.  
>They watched a man dissolve an egg's shell into vinegar.<p>

"Magic, just like my-" Dmitri was cut off when Jorge nudged him.

"Never mind."

Then came the Valentine's Day dance. Angela was dressed in pink silk with a gold necklace and a little circlet oh her head as she walked down the stairs.

"I can't believe it. My little girl's growing up," said Tony Sr.

Angela was very excited to go to the dance. Jorge was going to pick her up in an hour.  
>Angela, Jorge, and Tony all got to the dance.<p>

Jorge had learned new magic tricks from his nanny Emily. He could make things appear with his mind. He even made a flower for Angela, right before the dance, in the school hallways. All he had to do was think about something real hard and say its name in his mind. Several girls (Annie, Maria, and Vicki) who came to the dance early squealed when they saw him give the flower to Angela.

Jorge went inside the room later and saw that the DJ was playing hits from the 1960's. He was already at 1964, with The Supremes' "Come See About Me" and the Webber twins singing along. (Each dance had some sort of classic rock theme with its music. The last dance had 70s hits, because the DJ didn't own any 60's compilations yet. This meant the next dance would have 80's hits. Also, the DJ played 5-10 hits from each year in the decade consecutively, making for about 80 songs for the dance.) The banner outside the dance read "Party Like It's 1969!" to go along with its 60s theme. Jorge asked the DJ if he could request a song.

"Sure thing, J-man! What would it be?"

"I Left My Heart In San Francisco, by Tony Bennett."

"Just in time for '65!"

The DJ put on the song.

"The loooooveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay. The glory that was Rome is of another day. I've been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan. I'm going home to my city by the Bay…"

He took Angela's hand and they danced.

Tony was in the restroom and didn't notice until halfway through.

"Hey, Tony Bennett, he shares my name!" he said when he came in.

Everything was normal-Arthur Chen sang "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," Tony sang "Hang On Sloopy" (making it be about Ashley Webber), and Angela sang "Down in the Boondocks" - then Tiffany attacked Sam and held her hostage. Everyone was scared.

Jorge immediately went outside and put on his hat, mask, and cape. He recited a spell to make him fly into the school.

"Creo que puedo volar!"

He flew up into the school.

Everyone was shocked when they saw him.

"Jorge?" said Adrian.

"That would not be me, thank you very much."

Jorge turned to Tiffany.

"Hello. I am El Pantera Negra."

"What?"

"Never mind."

He performed an offensive spell on Tiffany and pointed his wand at her.

"Despida varita!"

She was on fire but didn't suffer serious injury, he then slashed his initials into her dress.

She ran away to go wash up, and the dance was safe again.

What a hottie! Thought Sam.

She then went to talk with Angela.

"You know that masked man who saved my life?"

"I know, right? He's so dreamy. He reminds me a little of Jorge."

"Yeah, well, he sort of reminds me of Tuxedo Mask from my favorite show, Sailor Moon."  
>"How?" asked Angela.<p>

"Well, he wears a suit and mask, for one," said Sam.

"You like Sailor Moon? I love Sailor Moon!" said Pablo.

"What?" said Sam.

"Yes I do. You didn't expect the Secret Weapon to like girly anime, did you? And yes, I like Tuxedo Mask, even though he reminds me a little too much of Zorro."

"Wow. I like Sailor Moon so much, I have a poster of it in my room!" said Sam.

"Hey, me too!" said Pablo.

"Me three!" said Angela.

"Awesome!" said Sam.

Sam then sang "Barbara Ann" with Achmed, who also played "All Day and All Of the Night" and played and sang "I'm a Believer" with her.

The next day was Sunday, and Achmed was at home, watching his Queen DVD. His cousin Muhammed came into the room.

"So, you're watching a DVD about a naked man?" (The DVD featured Freddie Mercury wearing nothing more than a pair of tight white shorts, and of course his iconic moustache.)

"He's not naked! He's wearing pants!" snapped Achmed.

"Yeah, but they're really tight pants," said Muhammed.

Then Amir came into the room.

"Hey Achmed. Whatcha watching?"

"Oh, that's Queen," said Muhammed.

"Who's the guy singing?"

"That's Freddie Mercury. He's the naked guy who died."

"HE'S NOT NAKED! He's wearing PANTS!"

"That's so funny and yet so sad at the same time," said Amir.

The two guys just stared at him.

"The funny part is that…he's naked."

"FREDDIE! MERCURY! IS! NOT! NAKED! He's wearing PANTS!"

"Tighty-Whitees!"

"PANTS!"

"Tighty-Whitees!"

"PANTS!"

"Oh well. The sad part is, obviously enough, that he died."

Achmed's mom came into the room.

"Hey Achmed. Hey Muhammed."

"We're watching a DVD about a naked man," said Muhammed.

"MUHAMMED!" snapped Achmed.

"Achmed!" snapped Mrs. Khan.

She turned off the TV.

"Look at what you made Mom do!" Achmed snapped at Muhammed.

"Oh well," said Muhammed.


	13. Chapter 13

February 26th, 2009 was a totally normal day in the life of Jorge Garcia…or was it?

It started out normal, when he was woken up by Emily, and went to school. Then he saw his cousin Pablo. He was wearing a "The Mask of Zorro" t-shirt.

"Hello, Pablo."

"Hey, Jorge."

"I like your shirt."

"Thanks. It's Zorro-let me show you..."

"Tah-Dah!" he said, opening up his jacket.

"Very nice."

Adrian let his Spanish class watch _West Side Story_, because Jorge, Pablo, and Maria were the only kids in the Spanish class-everyone else was out of school or was doing another class-and they were all Hispanic kids who knew Spanish very well.

However, it soon took a turn for the strange. Jorge was too busy staring at his arm to watch some of the movie, which, strangely, had some thick black hair growing on it (thought it certainly didn't feel like hair), though he remembered his uncle telling him that one guy got killed, and he remembered the musical…sort of.

After Adrian turned it off, he asked what part of the movie they remembered from when they saw the musical during Christmas break.

Jorge said "When he got killed."

"We're not at that part, Jorge," said Adrian. "We'll catch up to that part. We'll also catch up to the part where he gets kidnapped by Zorro."

"Yeahh! Zorro! Zorro! Zorro! Zorro! Zorro!" chanted Pablo.

"Oh come on Adrian!" said Jorge.

"I was testing Pablo to see if he wouldn't be silly after I mentioned Zorro."

Achmed went to go talk to Adrian in the hallway.

"Adrian, did you know you have two of the most gorgeous brown eyes on the planet?"

"Okayyyy…."

Jorge ignored the hair on his arm for the rest of the day, even though the next class was gym class and his gymsuit showed his arms and legs (fortunately for him, no one noticed.) Then he went home, and saw more hair grow on himself and when he was going to bed, his nanny saw black hair growing down his back. He screamed when she told him.

"Jorge, I told you to drink grape juice! What happened?"

"My father doesn't have any, and if I asked him to buy some, he'll ask why, and I'll have to tell him that I'm a half-panther wizard, and he'll go ballistic."

"You can get grape juice at the cafeteria at school."

"They only allow 1 juice box per student."

Jorge went into his room, looked at his mirror, and threw his chair at it. He thought he was turning into a monster, what with his teeth sharpening and his eyes being very white. He fell on his bed, and was sleeping when Pablo came into the room.

Adrian came into his room. Emily told him to give lots of grape juice, so he could never transform into a panther again. The Garcias lived by the Sanchezes, so he could just drive right by to get some grape juice. His talon-length nails grew shorter, and his hands, feet, skin, and jawbone went back to normal, and his tail shrunk into his spine.

Jorge woke up, seemingly back to normal...but something was different about him. When he opened his eyes, they were goldish-green. And he was definitely stronger than the boy who went to get his haircut and accidentally outran Pablo in September. Also, his teeth were still sharp.

He then climbed out of his bed, and opened his mouth to speak.

"On Thursday, October 9th, 2008, I was faced with a life-threatening situation no teenager, let alone just-turned 12-year-old, should have to face. I called up Emily, and she told me to do something drastic. I eventually had to cross the line between the human and the humanoid-"

"What would happen if you didn't?" asked Pablo.

"You don't want to know. Anyways, the magic spell sent a message to my DNA, and I got the strength-and anger-I didn't know I had. Then…all those years of blowing up over B+s finally caught up to me and I lost it. It didn't help that I brought home a 90 and he went through the roof. I'm not a normal human being anymore. I…I have the strength of a panther!"

Adrian just stood there.

"Okkkayyyy…" said Pablo.

"…And then, Tiffany clipped my scruff-"

Pablo laughed.

"-PABLO! Anyways, the panther DNA slowly overtook my human DNA…and it turned me from within into a-"

"I think we know where this is going," said Pablo.

Emily was staying at Lola's house, so Adrian tucked Jorge into bed.

"Goodnight, Jorge."

"Goodnight, Adrian."

He turned on the "Easy Listening" station on Jorge's radio, which was playing "Songbird."


	14. Chapter 14

The next day, Adrian let his class finish _West Side Story_ from Friday.

"You know, Antonio Banderas is in this movie," said Adrian.

"Yeahh! Antonio! Antonio! Antonio! Antonio!" said Pablo.

"Who's Antonio Banderas?" asked Jorge.

"You don't know who Antonio Banderas is? I can't believe it. He played Zorro in the movies," said Pablo.

It was a normal weekend for most of the Backyard Kids. Sam and Angela were singing "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" while hanging out in Angela's room, and Jorge was playing his favorite song, "American Pie", on guitar and singing it.

"You know, this has been my favorite song since childhood. When I was a little boy, my mother, who was still alive back then, would play it on her guitar and sing it." He sniffled.

"Ah-ha," said his butler Matthew.

Unfortunately, Achmed had a nightmare that night, that he was stuck in his girlfriend, Tiffany Stevens' wrath, and it was difficult to escape without her choking him.

The soundtrack for his nightmare was "Hush."

On Sunday, Jorge decided to check out some books about other wizards who transformed into animals, whether by accident, as a last resort, or for some other reason.

He called Tony when he went home.

"So Tony, what song are you singing for the talent show? I'm singing "Sweet Baby James" by James Taylor," said Jorge.

"Awesome. I'm singing "Long Cool Woman In a Black Dress" by The Hollies," said Tony.

"Okay."

Jorge looked at the back of his "Perry Hotter" book. It looked pretty interesting…but dinner was being served!

And of course in May there was the Spring Fling. Tiffany stole all of DJ Elvis Lennon's 80s albums, so he just played a mixture of songs.

"This is-DJ Elvis Lennon!" said a little boy in the back DJ-ing.

"Since my name is DJ _Elvis _Lennon, I'm playing this song as a tribute to the King of Rock and Roll! Burnin' Love!"

"OMG Tony, this is our song!" said Achmed.

Tony and Achmed hit the dance floor, fist-pumping and air-guitaring.

After the song, Jorge said "I have a very lovely song for a very lovely lady. And her name is…"

He quickly scanned the room.

"Angela!"

Angela fainted in excitement.

Jorge sang "You're a Wonderful One," with Achmed Khan on guitar, Dmitri Petrovich on keyboard, the Webber twins on backing vocals and Ernie Steele on saxophone.

"I can't believe a guy like you would notice me, Jorge!" said Angela.

After the song, Jorge went to talk with Ernie.

"You know Ernie, just because you're black doesn't mean you have to play saxophone," said Jorge.

"Who says?"

"I say so. Ernie, playing the saxophone means you're succumbing to the negative stereotypes of African-Americans."

"Yeah, so? It's a free country, Jorge. I can play any instrument I want."

"Do you _want _to make other African-Americans look bad?"

"No, I just like to play the saxophone."

"Would you still have played the saxophone if you were white?"

"Would Angela still wear girly clothes and drool over you if she was male? Maybe the latter, but not the former. Besides, Lisa Simpson plays the saxophone and she's white. And the other famous Ernie, and he's…orange."

He then went to speak with Achmed.

"Achmed, there are no women in The Knights of Rockville! There are only extremely handsome young gentlemen! And _I_ am the most handsome young gentleman of all!"

"Keep telling yourself that," said Achmed sarcastically.

The Monday after the dance, Jorge saw Tiffany…ahem…"rearrange" his locker. By which she meant stealing things from it! She was also wearing a red outfit.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said. He immediately told the principal, who was her dad.

"Hey Jorge, I know what you said to me. And Daddy told me it was your fault! I'll get you tonight," she said.

_Not again!_ Jorge thought.

Fortunately for him, Tiffany sprained her ankle after she accidentally walked into Angela playing soccer and would have to stay in bed for the next few days.

At lunch that day, Anavi was talking with Sam.

"You know that dashing young man who saved my life? He looks a lot like Jorge."

"Oh, _he's _a hottie. But he can't be Jorge. Jorge's a spoiled jerk."

"You mean he's _rich_? Cool!"

Sam facepalmed.

She remembered earlier that day, when Jorge bumped into her.

"Excuse me!" she said after bumping into him.

"Well excuse me princess!"

Sam was disgusted.

_The nerve of that boy!_ She thought. _Why, if he wasn't so handsome, I'd have smashed his face in!_

That Sunday, Jorge decided to go shopping.

"You know, I heard Tiffany's going there to fight you," said Matthew.

Jorge ignored him, and put on his hat and long, white fake-fur coat very quickly and immediately left the house.

Sam swooned when she saw Jorge.


	15. Chapter 15

Jorge went to the mall as usual, what with eating out and shopping at his favorite stores, Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister, and Pac Sun, but he also bumped into Tiffany, just like his butler said.

Tiffany was wearing black eyeshadow, and her face was pale and her hair darker than usual. She was also wearing a sleeveless black dress, the same one she wore when she turned into a cat, a matching hat, and lots of spike jewelry and gloves.

"Jorge…Jorge…you told Mr. Stern I cheated on your test. You…you will-"

"-I don't wanna hear it," said Jorge.

"Whatever. Listen, Jorge, I've wanted you ever since I saw your dashing alter ego come to stop me, only to turn into a meek little boy after I turned into a cat. But, you've ruined my life-"

"Ruined _your_ life? You wanted to turn me into mindless beast of a slave!"

"-that I have to kidnap you as my slave-_forever_!"

Jorge then chased Tiffany through the mall.

"The Cisco Kid" played while he tried to stop her.

Jorge learned that he could use his spells to increase his strength, speed, or senses. Theses spells were named after planets: the strength spell was the Jupiter spell, the speed spell was the Mercury spell, and the senses spell was the Venus spell. Apparently, some wizards could get powers from other planets, but Jorge thought it had to do with Greek mythology. He did the Jupiter spell after Tiffavi sucked all the power out of him.

"Jupiter power!"

He jumped up and did kung-fu moves on Tiffany. (He also did tae kwon do on Mondays.)

She rolled her eyes, stamped her foot and she and Anavi merged into one person with the "Combine" spell.

"Tremble before the wrath of Tiffavi!"

Jorge rolled his eyes.

Pablo walked up to Tiffany and said "Come on, do you wanna piece of me?"

She grabbed him and threw him on the floor.

Dmitri then dropped his gum.

"Whatcha doin'," asked Reese.

"Looking for my gum," said Dmitri.

Dmitri and Reese saw Tiffany. They grabbed Joey and threw him at Tiffany.

"Hey Tiffany, here's one you missed!" said Reese.

Jorge pointed his wand to his head and spoke some words to himself.

"Super Mode Power Up!" (That was the spell that upgraded all of his physical abilities, at the cost of making him somewhat aggressive.)

"Jorge! Wait! You can't succumb to your aggressive side! Otherwise you'll be no better than Tiffany!" said a girl.

Jorge looked up. It was Lola. She ran down the escalator to save Jorge.

"Lola-you're…"

"Yeah, I'm the girl who got her ears pierced the day you-"

"Don't remind me about it."

She then turned to Tiffany.

"I don't have any superpowers…but I'm still as good as Jorge!" she said.

She did the fifth-position of ballet with her feet and undid them slowly…while punching Tiffany. She then kicked her, while doing several small kicks, gradually getting them get bigger and closer to Tiffany. Then she just kicked her. She also punched her, one fist at a time, but eventually used her special punching system. She would stand with one foot behind the other, have her fists out, punch with one fist and defend herself from Tiffany with the other, and then kick her. Then, just to finish her off, she started punching while running…and defeated Tiffany.

She then decided to check her makeup in a mirror, though her only makeup was eyeliner, lip balm, and body spray.

"Not a hair out of place."

She also adjusted her glasses.

Tiffany Stevens was then turned into Jell-O pudding by Jorge by accidentally saying some words out loud.

After he defeated Tiffany, Jorge was chased by all the female Backyard kids.

She and Jorge went over to the food court. They both bought iced waters, because they were _very_ tired and sweaty after fighting Tiffany.

"But she doesn't even _have_ superpowers!" said Reese.

"Neither does Batman," said Dmitri.

She then called her boyfriend.

"Hey Will, I can't see you tonight, I'm visiting my Uncle Matt."

"Wait…_you're_ Matthew Broderick's niece?" asked Dmitri.

"You bet I am," she said. "Any similarities to Batgirl from _Batman & Robin_ are entirely coincidental."

"That's one fine-looking girl," said Reese.

"Well, that's more than I can say for you," said Dmitri.

"Hahahahahaha!"

She drove Jorge home afterward.

"So Lola, where did you learn to be such a great fighter?" asked Jorge.

"Well, I was pretty chubby as a kid, and the other kids picked on me. So Dad enrolled me in kickboxing, taekwondo, and ballet lessons. I did well with all of them except for ballet, because it was too girly for me."

"Wow."

"Yeah. I also worked out every other day."

After they heard of Tiffany's death, everyone was delighted. She only seemed to be making their lives incredibly miserable, but everyone was too afraid of her to anything.


	16. Chapter 16

Adrian took Jorge and Pablo to visit the Intrepid that weekend.

"Hey Jorge, guess what?" said Adrian when they visited the boat.

"What?" said Jorge.

"I'm on a boat!"

Then came the day of the talent show, June 22nd.

Both Jorge and Tony were nervous _and_ excited. Jorge had just gotten a new pair of shoes for the talent show because his current pair was getting old. Tony also got a new pair of shoes, not to mention a neon green bracelet to add to his collection of bracelets, both of which he was going to wear while performing his song. Both boys also had to present their PowerPoint reports earlier that day.

Jorge had Language Arts class. Everyone was doing a PowerPoint project towards the end of the school year on a topic they were really interested in. He showed everyone his PowerPoint report on Zorro. Everyone was impressed.

Tony showed everyone _his_ PowerPoint report on Batman. They were all impressed.

Then the kids had Spanish class. Adrian was speaking with his class.

"You know who the most famous Hispanic hero is? Zorro. He dresses all in black, wears a mask, and marks his enemies with his distinctive "Z." He also went on to influence Batman."

"Correction-Batman ripped off of Zorro," said Pablo.

"Pablo, we've gone through this several times. Batman never ripped off Zorro."

"Yes he did."

"No he didn't."

"Attention: All chorus students report to the auditorium," said the loudspeaker right after their presentations.

And that's exactly what they did.

Vicki was bossing around the music teacher, Mrs. Berry, telling her what to do.

"Hey Angie, tell Vicki she's stupid," Tony told his sister Angela after he saw her.

"Tony-no," said Jorge.

Tony burst into tears.

Mrs. Berry told Tony to go to the bathroom.

After going to the bathroom, Tony felt _much_ better.

Then the talent show began.

"Welcome to our annual talent show!" said Reese Worthington. "We hope you will enjoy the show!"

"Tony! Tony! Tony! Tony! Tony!" cheered all the kids. It was time for Tony to perform his song.

"Tonnyyyyy's gonna sing a ssoonnggg…." "sang" Reese Worthington.

Tony sang "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress."

Jorge came up to sing "Sweet Baby James" after that. However, they had some technical difficulties with the portable DVD player which was playing his song.

Jorge got very nervous, but Reese Worthington said "Looks like we have some technical difficulties. Let's sing a song! My bonnie lies over the ocean…"

Everyone sang "My Bonnie" with Reese Worthington while waiting for Jorge's portable DVD player to work. Even Jorge joined in.

Jorge sang "Sweet Baby James."

"Bravo! Bravo!" cheered Mrs. Berry.

Everyone cheered.

Dmitri performed "Peggy Sue," changing the "Peggys" to "Jennys" due to his crush on Jennifer Rose.

"I thought you were doing Elton John," said Jorge.

"I like Buddy Holly now," said Dmitri.

Tony and Jorge asked Vicki if she thought they did okay.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," she said.

Unfortunately, later that day, she called both of them stupid.

Both of them felt sad.

_However_, Jorge's butler told them that they could make a school newspaper next year, and everyone would like them then.

Jorge was so excited he rushed to call Tony to tell him about it.

Tony agreed that it would be a cool idea.

"Well, Jorge, we've been through so much, but we've got through it and now we're better than ever. Let me sing a song," said Tony.

Tony sang "You're My Best Friend."

Jorge got excited and joined in. The duo had a lot of fun.

Sam and Achmed sang "Who Says You Can't Go Home," at the end-of-the-year party.

They jumped and hugged each other, laughing and crying tears of joy.

"And they all lived happily ever after. Hey, that party looks fun. Maybe _I'll_ join in."

Jorge went to join in on the party.

Achmed went to go talk to him.

"Hey Jorge, I know you've been discriminated against because of your magic powers. I want you to know, as a minority living in 21st-century America, I know what's like to be discriminated against. Talk about discrimination, I'm 75% Arab, 25% Hispanic, and…uh…I like boys."

"What?"

"Yeah I do. But I like girls too."

"WHAT?"

"I said, I like both boys and girls. You should know this already, I was flirting with our cute Spanish…never mind. But I like Sam." He then went to go sing with Sam.

"Well Sam, we've been through a lot, but we've gotten through it and now we're better than ever. Let's sing a song!" said Achmed.

Achmed and Sam sang "We Are The Champions" together.

Achmed then performed "After Midnight," "Highway to Hell," and "Who are You."

Tony went up to perform "Stayin' Alive" and "Shadow Dancing."

Jorge came home to find out Emily died from a heart attack. He was very sad. He was going to show his story he wrote to her.

However, Jorge talked with his butler and how he would have to miss piano practice because her funeral was Wednesday. Jorge was talking so much, saying it was like when his mother died, and his butler said that "Her spirit lives on through you." He also added that random things might happen to her because her spirit was playing around. When he saw his dad, he seemed to be both sad and…happy. He was usually frigid, but he seemed very happy to see how much his son had grown up in nearly five years.

Jorge watched an episode of his favorite show _The Osbournes_ and laughed at how immature he was when he was seven and on the show. "Like I said, her spirit lives on through you!"

Jorge sang the song "Winter Light" for Emily the night after the funeral, in his room, after his new nanny, Amy, tucked him into bed.

"Emily, I miss you. I hope you can hear me!…and I'm glad you're with my mother."

The next day, he took out his boom box and performed Good Charlotte's "I Don't Want to be In Love" in his room. It summarized the past year's events quite well, what with Achmed, Sam, him, and Tiffany.


End file.
